Hair drying apparatus



May 25, 1937. L, WAHL 2,081,565

HAIR DRYING APPARATUS c Filed April 27, 1936 jhwn k lea J ZUQ/ZZPatented May 25, 1937 FFICE HAIR DRYING APPARATUS Leo J. Wahl, Sterling,IlL, assignor to Wahl C ipper Corpgratlon, Sterling, 111., a corporatlonof Illlno Application April :7, mac, Serill No. 76,637

Claims. (Cl. 219-39) v This invention relates to hair drying apparatussuchas is used in beauty parlors for the drying of human hair. Indevices of this character, the hair drying apparatus is usually mountedin a hood which in turn is movably mounted so that it can be ad- Justedup and down and angularly to be placed upon the head of the customer.Devices of this character have been made with the hood ad- Justable andwith hand or customer controlled heating elements so that the customermay adjust the heating effect of the drier. However, such devices, asheretofore known, have necessitated the use of auxiliary cords orcontrol lines which may lead to the customers chair or be free so as tobe placed in the customers lap. Such devices are not satisfactorybecause of the loose cords lying around, and hence it is one purpose ofthe present invention to improve the control of such devices as hairdrying hoods so that the customer may set the heating elements in thehood to any desired rate of heating.

I will describe the preferred form of my invention by reference to theaccompanying .drawing wherein Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of ahair drier with the hood of the hairdrier shown in section; Fig. 2 is asectional view taken through the hood substantially on the line 22 ofFig. 1;

0 Fig. 3 is a wiring diagram showing the electrical circuit for the fanand heating elements within the hood;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

5 Referring now in detail to the drawing, the

present hair drier is mounted upon a base I having a standard 8 in whicha hood carrying stem I is vertically adjustable, the stem 1 beingsecured in any desired position by a suitable lock- 0 ing means such asa set screw i having a wing head 8 thereon. A hood II is mounted on thestem 1 by means: of a pivot pin II. The hood I0 is provided with ahorizontally extending arm I! which is secured directly to the hood inany suit- 15 able manner and which is constructed of an invertedU-shapcd metal strip as indicated by Fig. 4. The pivot point i I isclose to the hood in order that the angle of the hood I may be adjustedthrough a considerable range without much 50 change in the elevationthereof. This also makes the hood easier to balance.

In order to balance the hood, the free end of the arm I2 h weighted bymeans of a heavy filler 93 which may be of lead so as to counterbalancetheweightoitbchood. Tbelcngtboftbearm I2 is preferably such that theweight it does not extend farther out from the stem 3 than thesupporting base 5. This is done in order to insure stability and toprevent the device from readily tipping over. 5 As shown, the hood I0 isa sheet metal hood having an inturned rim H at its open end. Within thehood adjacent the top thereof, a bracket i5 is riveted or otherwisesecured in place, and this bracket carries a fan motor 16. The fan 10motor has a shaft H which carries a fan It. The fan It is of the disktype which receives the air by drawing it in axially to its center andby discharging the same radially outward. Below the fan 18, a pluralityof brackets l9 fixed to the hood l0 support a screen til which preventshairs from being drawn from the head of the customer into the fan I 8. Aheating unit is supported between the screen and the fan It. Thisheating unit comprises a pair of brackets 2! and 22 20 (see Fig. 2)which brackets carry three heating coils 23, 24, and 25. Thus the air asit is drawn from the head of the customer passes across the heatingcoils and to the fan l8 which discharges it radially outward so as tocause it to again be 25 circulated through the hair.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 3, it will be noted that in the top of thehood l0 there is a bracket 2' which supports a mercury switch 21 that isadapted to turn oif the current supplied to the motor andheating coilswhen the hood is tipped back into inoperative position. I'his may, ofcourse, be done readily by pressing down on the free end of the arm ii.In addition, as shown by Figs. 2 and 3, each heating coil 23, 24, and 25is individually controlled by a switch. The coil 23, is controlled by aswitch 28. The coil 24 is controlled by a switch 29, and the coil 25 iscontrolled by a switch 30. These switches are ordinary snap switcheshaving toggle handles such 40 as II. The switches 28, 29, and 30 are soset that'the handles 3| thereof are moved up and down, that islengthwise of the hood, to turn the current on or oil to the severalheaters. 4 The onor off position may be the up position of the handle asthis is relatively immaterial. However, it is important that the handles31 move up and down and that they are all set to operate in the samedirection. Preferably, they are so constructed that, when they are inthe up position, the current is on, and, when they are in the downposition, the current is oil. This makes it very convenient for thecustomer to control the heating units without making mistakes and itmakes it unnecessary to have any loose cords or wires around theapparatus other than the single cord which connects the device to asource of current, and this may be connected to the stand or hood insuch a way as to be out of the way of the customer.

From the above description, it is believed that the construction andoperation of this device will be readily apparent to those skilled inthis art. It is also believed to be obvious that various minormodifications may be made without de-,

parting from the scope of the invention as defined by the claims.

Having thus described one specific form of my invention, what I claim asnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: A

l. A hair drier of the character described comprising a supportingstand, a hood adjustably carried thereby, air heating means associatedwith said hood and comprising electrical heating elements, controlswitch mechanism for said heating elements mounted on the rim of saidhood adjacent the head receiving portion thereof, said switch mechanismhaving handles movable lengthwise of the hood for controlling thecurrent supplied to said heating elements.

2. In a hair drier, a hood comprising an elongated tubular housingclosed at one end, brackets within said hood, a motor supported by saidbrackets, a fan carried and driven by said motor, a screen interposedbetween the fan and the open end of said hood, electrical heating unitsinterposed between the screen and the fan, a control switch mounted insaid hood and operable by tipping of said hood to control the supply ofcurrent to said heating units and said motor, and individual controlswitches for said heating units mounted on the exterior of said hoodadjacent the open end thereof where they are readily accessible to acustomer upon whose head the hood is fitted.

3. In a hair drier, a hood comprising an elongated tubular housingclosed at one end, brackets within said hood, a motor supported by saidbrackets, a fan carried and driven by said motor, a screen interposedbetween the fan and the open end of said hood, electrical heating unitsinterposed between the screen and the fan, a control switch mounted insaid hood and operable by tipping of said hood to control the supply ofcurrent to said heating units and said motor, and individual controlswitches for said heating units mounted on the exterior of said hoodadjacent the open end thereof where they are readily accessible to acustomer upon whose head the hood is fitted, said switch mechanismshava,'os1,ses

ing manually operable members movable toward and away from the open endof the housing to actuate the switch mechanisms.

4. A hair drier of the character described, comprising a supportingstand, a hood adjustably carried thereby, a motor within said hood, afan carried and driven by said motor, electrical heating units in saidhood adjacent said Ian and adapted to heat the air circulated by saidfan, individual control switches for said heating units adapted to beindividually operated by the customer 'to whose head the drier isfitted, said indi vidual control switches being mounted at the open endof the hood on the exterior thereof and having hand levers movablelengthwise of the hood for turning the individual heating units on andoil.

5. A hair drier of the character described, comprising a supportingstand, a hood adjustably carried. thereby, a motor within said hood, afan carried and driven by said motor, electrical heating units in saidhood adjacent said fan and adapted to heat the air circulated by saidfan, individual control switches for said heating units adapted to beindividually operated by the customer to whose head the drier is fitted,said individual control switches being mounted at the open end of thehood on the exterior thereof and having hand levers movable lengthwiseof the hood for turning the individual heating units on and oil, saidsupporting stand having a pivot member at the top thereof, and said hoodhaving an arm connected therewith and secured to the pivot member, saidlast named arm extending beyond the pivot member on the opposite sidefrom the hood and having a weighted element connected therewith tocounterbalance the weight of the hood.

6. In a hair drier, a hood comprising an elongated tubular housingclosed at one end, a motor, means in said housing for supporting saidmotor, a fan carried and driven by said motor, a screen interposedbetween the fan and the open end of the hood, electrical heating unitsinterposed between the screen and the fan, a control switch" forcontrolling the supply of current to said heating units and said motor,and individual control switches for said heating units mounted on theexterior of said hood adjacent the open end thereof where they arereadily accessible to a customer on whose head the hood is fitted, saidindividual control switches having handles movable lengthwise of thehood between on and of! positions.

LEO J. WAHL.

